On the 20th July, stillbirth charity Count the Kicks, now Kicks Count achieved a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the largest Tombola! Their Teddy Bears Picnic attracted thousands of visitors to Sutherland Memorial park in Burpham to take part in the attempt and also enjoy the other activities the day had to offer.

Prior to the teddy bears picnic the largest tombola included 4,802 prizes and was achieved by Mainstay DRP (UK) in Castlewellan Forest Park in Castlewellan, UK, on 28 August 2011. However at 1:30pm on Sunday it was confirmed that with 5,104 prizes the Count the Kicks Tombola had achieved a brand new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title! Rachel Hind said “This event was brilliant and everyone did an amazing job. I came with my mum and my 6 week old even though he was too young to know what was going on it was an amazing thing to take him to and be part of.“

Elizabeth Hutton who organised the event and is CEO of the charity Count the Kicks said “This has been five months in the making and we are so grateful to all the businesses and individuals who donated prizes to help us achieve our GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title. I hope this will help raise awareness of the charity and what we do to prevent stillbirth”

Count the Kicks was founded by Guildford mum Sophia Wyatt following the stillbirth of her daughter Chloe in 2009. Determined to ensure other mums did not experience the heartache she was living with every day, she started the charity to raise awareness of baby’s movements in pregnancy and how important they are in indicating a baby’s wellbeing. With the second worst stillbirth rate in the developed world, and with 17 babies being stillborn or dying shortly after birth every day in the UK, a charity like Count the Kicks was desperately needed. Over the last 4 years the charity has grown at an amazing rate and parents are constantly getting in touch to say their baby’s are here as a result of count the kicks. Jo Lavender who drove up from Somerset to volunteer on the day said “If it wasn’t for Count the Kicks, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to repeatedly voice my pregnancy concerns. If I had not gone back into hospital that day at 27 weeks I am convinced Rothen would not have had a chance to survive. Everyone should know about Count the Kicks.”

As well as the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title, there were lots of other activities on the day provided by Count the Kicks and the day sponsors Busy Lizzy and Christopher Robin Day Nurseries. The main attraction was undoubtedly the Frozen tent where children were offered the chance to meet their DIsney idols Elsa, Anna and Olaf! Elizabeth said “we knew Frozen was going to be a popular choice but we were blown away by how many people turned out to meet the characters.” Louise Paterson said “I think it was amazing just having the characters walk around. My little girl just kept getting really excited saying ‘look look mummy there’s elsa!!!’ Truly worthy cause as well”.

There were plenty of other stands and activities provided by local companies such as Maddies crafts, Tobia cakes, amazing baby creations and virtual photo booth that kept the whole family entertained. Bee Butterfield said “We loved every second, we thought we’d stay an hour and leave but we had a picnic and stayed from 11am to 430pm! My kids loved it!” At 2:30 Elsa, Anna and Olaf took to the stage to put on a mini concert and singalong for the children, who all belted out the words to let it go.

The day was all about raising awareness for Count the Kicks and Elizabeth summed up the day by saying “The awareness we’ve raised here today has been fantastic and the fact we have so many smiling children leaving the park is the icing on the cake!”

You can find out more about Count the Kicks, their GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS achievement and future events at www.countthekicks.org.uk

View the record: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-tombola-(most-prizes)